Brazil's cattle herd rebuilding as slaughter slows

Brazilian cattle slaughter in certified plants was down 5 percent in 2007-08 on the previous year, to 29.8 million head for the possible rebuilding of Brazil's herd.

The decrease was mainly a result of an 11 percent decrease in cow slaughter to 10.2 million, and a 13-percent decrease in young steers and heifers to 4 million head, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE. The only category to increase was steers, up 1.3 percent.

Despite IBGE's data being official and not accounting for informal slaughter, it is an important trend indicator.

Another estimate of Brazilian cattle slaughter (including informal slaughter) points to a similar conclusion about the state of the Brazilian cattle herd. AgraFNP figures estimate that slaughter levels in 2008 could fall by 7 percent from 2007 levels to 39 million head.